Dinner 1 of 3
by WorldOfTilt
Summary: Santana thinks it's time to propose to Brittany. Brittany thinks it's time for dinner. Max thinks it's time Santana got a new nick-name. First part of a three-shot in my Midnight Snack universe.


A/N: Hi! This is the first in a three-shot I wrote in my Midnight Snack Universe, because really, I can't get enough of Santana/Max. Enjoy!

Max, hey Maxy wake up." Santana nudged the pile of blankets.

"Saaannn, it's too early. It's still dark out," Max whined from under the covers.

"It's not early, it's actually very late." Santana turned on the small lamp on Max's nightstand.

"Why are you waking me up so late, is mommy ok?" Max shot up.

"Yes, yes mommy is fine. Do you think if something was wrong I would be this calm? You've seen me freak out. Spain would know if something was wrong with mommy," Santana scoffed.

"True." Max lay back down under the covers. At eight years old he was finally starting to accept his crazy mothers. "So what's going on?"

"Max, New York passed Marriage Equality," Santana beamed.

"So you and mommy can get married now?" Max asked, sitting up again, remembering the week before when Santana and Brittany sat him down to explain what was happening in their state.

"Exactly, buddy. So how about you and I plan a little surprise for mommy?" Santana winked.

Santana left Max to go back to sleep, while she sorted out her plans. She already had the ring. She'd had it for about a year. She never really thought about how she was going to propose to Brittany, she was just waiting for the right time. She knew she wanted to include Max, and probably their dog Oscar, and that she wanted it to be low key. Then it hit her. When she and Brittany were together in High School, Santana would daydream about proposing to Brittany in the halls of McKinley, since that is where they first fell in love, but now she had a better idea. Santana slipped into bed curling around Brittany, who had fallen asleep before the votes were taken in the Senate, excited to wake up the next morning and start her plan.

Santana woke up before anyone else in the house. It was a hot and balmy day in the middle of summer. Santana threw on shorts and a tank top before leaving a note for Brittany. When she exited their building the humidity hit her like a tone of bricks. "Son of a...dammit. What the hell is wrong with this place? Why is the air wet? Air is not supposed to be wet!" Santana yelled to a man walking his dog across the street. "I'm already sweating. I'm already sweating and I haven't left my block yet." Santana huffed and slowly made her way to her destination around the corner. Santana practically fell into the diner, causing the few patrons there to stop eating and look up. "It's so fucking hot out there!" She exclaimed at them.

"Ah, Santana Lopez. You always know how to make an entrance." And old man behind the counter spoke softly, coming around to greet her. "Where is your beautiful family?"

"Hi, Ben. They're home. It's too hot for Max or the dog to be outside anyway. I have some stuff to talk to you about but can I please have an iced tea before I die?" Santana said dramatically sprawling herself across the cool bakery showcase.

"Stop getting your sweaty self all over my display. Here sit down and cool off." Ben said while placing a tall iced tea on the counter. Santana sat down, practically finishing her drink in one sip. She came up for air, signaling for another. Ben laughed while meeting her demand. "So, what is it that you have to talk to me about? Do you want me to stop putting the bacon for Oscar in your take out orders?" Ben asked with a guilty conscience.

"No, no. Oscar loves that and it stops him from begging for our food. No, I wanted to ask you how much it would cost to rent out the diner for a night." Santana asked seriously.

"What? Why would you want to rent out this old place? For a party?" Ben asked while refilling Santana's drink for a third time.

"No, not a party. You know how Brittany and I met again here, in that very booth?" Santana pointed to her favorite booth towards the back on the left. "Well, I was thinking of proposing to her here." Santana said sheepishly.

"That is the sweetest thing I have ever heard come out of your mouth!" Ben started laughing. "Hold on, hold on! Erik, come out here!" Ben called to his husband/chef in kitchen.

"What? I'm backed up with orders in here." Erik said through the swinging kitchen doors.

"Santana wants to rent out the diner to propose to Brittany!" Ben said in between fits of laughter.

"Oh my gosh, that's the cutest thing I've ever heard! We're gonna let her do it right?" Erik asked running back into the kitchen.

"Of course we are!" Ben came back around the counter to hug Santana, who was not very amused at their making fun of her. "Aww stop pouting, we're only joking. I mean it's not every day that someone asks to rent out a diner to propose to the love of their life!" Ben burst into laughter again.

"You know, I could have done something classy and romantic but I chose your greasy ass diner. I'm going to be paying you!" Santana huffed and pouted into her iced tea.

"Ok, I'm sorry." Ben said seriously, though trying to hide his smile. "Let's see how much, how much?"

"If you are just gonna pick a random number out of your butt, at least throw in the cost of dinner for three. Oh, and bacon for Oscar. We'll all be here." Santana informed him, as he was busy calculating numbers on a napkin.

"Ok, I'm going to slide over this napkin with a number on it. If you approve say nothing. If you disagree, write another number." Ben stated seriously.

"This isn't the fucking CIA, Ben. Just tell me how much to make the check out for." Santana shook her head, lifting her once again empty glass to try and get an ice cube.

"No. Here." Ben said secretly sliding the napkin across the counter.

Santana made a big showing of sighing loudly, even while smirking. She turned the napkin over and gasped at the price. "Free?! No, you will lose a whole night of tickets! I want to pay for it, come on! Just figure out what you usually make in a night and tell me." Santana huffed again, this time just letting herself around the back of the counter to fill her iced tea glass.

"No, I insist. You and Brittany have been my most loyal customers for eight years. You for years before that. I just wish I was here that night Brittany walked in. I bet it was like a movie scene," Ben said getting a far away look in his eye. "I really do insist you do this free of charge, it would be an honor for us."

"Fine, but I will find some other way to compensate you." Santana growled playfully. They worked on details, the date and time. Santana would take care of making sure Brittany and the ring were there, and Ben and Erik would do the rest.

Santana slowly made her way back home, greeted at the door by Brittany, clad only in a sports bra and tiny shorts. "Damn baby, it's hotter in here than outside." Santana drooled.

"Oh gosh, you're ridiculous sometimes," Brittany laughed at her girlfriend. "Come on, I figured you would be sweating when you got home from wherever you were, so I made you a treat." Brittany beckoned Santana to follow her into the kitchen. Santana dragged herself into the kitchen only to be met with the same scantly clad Brittany now sucking on a homemade strawberry ice pop.

"Oh my god. If I wasn't melting I would fuck you so hard against this counter right..." Santana was interrupted midway by a sweaty looking Max and panting Oscar.

"Mom can I have an ice pop? You said when San got home I could," Max whined, not waiting for an answer before grabbing a pop and giving Oscar a lick and heading back down the hall.

"No more ice pops for Oscar, too much sugar isn't good for puppies!" Brittany yelled down the hall behind them.

"I think I have heat stroke. I'm going to eat my pop in front of the air conditioner." Santana sulked away into the living room. She finished her ice pop and fell into a deep sleep on the couch. Brittany walked in a short time later, after cleaning up the kitchen. She smiled at her sweaty, adorable girlfriend sprawled out on the couch.

It was nearing dinner by time Santana woke up from her nap. She got up, changed out of her sweaty clothes and went into the kitchen to help Brittany make dinner. "Where are the guys?" Santana asked while stealing a carrot from under Brittany's hand.

"They are in Max's bedroom playing, his room is the coolest in the house anyway. I'll go get him in a few minutes to set the table. How are you feeling, Sweaty?" Brittany smirked.

"I'm not sweaty anymore. At least not as much as I was. Did you know it's wet outside?!" Santana asked, started to get herself worked up again.

"I know, it's called humidity. You've lived in New York almost fifteen years you don't understand the humidity yet?" Brittany laughed, ducking into the fridge to get some peppers.

"I understand it," Santana huffed, "I just don't like it. It's lame. Air, by its very definition is not wet." Santana reasoned, throwing her hands up in the air. "Anyway, I'm hungry. How much longer?" Santana asked impatiently.

"Well if you would stop complaining about the weather and start cutting the tomatoes dinner would be ready faster." Brittany teased, giving Santana a quick slap to the butt.

"Very funny. You finish up. I'll go get Max." Santana quickly ran out of the kitchen before Brittany could catch her.

After dinner, while Max helped Santana wash the dishes she quietly whispered part of her plan. "So, you know how you and Mommy found me in that diner around the corner? Remember that story we always tell you?" Santana whispered.

"Yup, it was raining and Mommy had french fries, right?" Max asked while standing on tipee-toes to reach the next plate to dry.

"That's right buddy," Santana nodded, helping him get the plate. "So I was thinking about asking Mommy to marry me in that diner. Do you think she would like that?" Santana asked suddenly very self-conscious of her plan.

"Mommy loves that place. Every time we get off the train over there and we walk by it she gets a weird look on her face. Sometimes if my teacher tells Mommy I did a good job that day, she will go in and get us french fries and a milkshake to share. But I'm not supposed to tell you that." Max suddenly got a worried look on his face.

"Don't worry, I promise I won't let Mommy know you let that slip." Santana reassured Max who kept drying. "I think I'm going to do it in about a month, I need some time to get all the details worked out. You and Oscar will be there also, ok? I want the whole family to be there." Santana gave a soft smile to Max who suddenly had a serious look on his face. "What's wrong buddy? Are you ok with me asking Mommy to marry me? Nothing will really change, it'll just mean that New York and some other states will know that Mommy and I love each other and share our lives together." Santana knelt down to Max's level, still concerned with the confusion on his face.

"I know that, you explained that to me already. But what about me?" Max asked getting a little teary eyed.

"What do you mean, Maxy?" Santana asked sliding down the cabinets to a seated position, bringing Max with her.

"I mean, if you and Mommy get to be put together and get married, what about me and you?" Max asked laying his head down on Santana's lap.

"Oh Maxy, nothing changes between us. You will always be my Max and I will always be your San. Nothing will ever change that." Santana felt that dreaded lump rising in her throat. She wasn't sure what Max was getting at.

"But I don't want to just be your Max. If you and Mommy get married, you get to call each other wife, right? That's what you told me. But why don't I get to call you a special name if everyone else does? All my friends get to call their mommies and daddies like that, but I call you San," Max sniffled into Santana's lap.

Santana, for one of the few times in her life, was left speechless. A few seconds passed before it finally clicked. "Max sit up," Santana nudged the small boy off her lap. She turned to face him, lifting his head up. "Do you want to call me mommy also?" Every once in a blue moon over the last few years Santana would lie awake late at night thinking about how she wished Max would call her mom or mommy. Everyone knew she was just as much his mother as Brittany was but for some reason the conversation never came up. Santana didn't want to be the one to bring it up, she felt petty and selfish bringing something like that up.

Max silently nodded his head, "at school I call you my mom when we talk about our families, but you have always been San at home, so I thought maybe you didn't want me to call you mom," Max shrugged wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"No baby, It would make me the happiest person in the world if you called me mom. I'm really sorry we never had this talk. I'm sorry you thought I didn't want you to call me mom or anything like that. I am your mother also, and you are my son. I'm sorry if you've been confused." Santana sniffled a bit herself and brought Max in for a hug. Her mind was spinning from this conversation; she would have to talk to Brittany right away, not that there would be a problem. Brittany had mentioned this issue a couple of times in the past few years but Santana never wanted Max to think she was trying to take his mother away from him. Santana finally let go of their embrace; she kissed him on the head and told him to go play a little before bedtime. He jumped up and ran out of the kitchen. Santana got up and turned back to the sink.

"Mom?" Santana heard from the kitchen doorway, spinning around almost dropping the glass she had started washing. "Thank you, Mom. I love you!" Max smiled, giving Santana a small wave before running back out to his room.

Santana stood there, barely holding onto the glass she almost dropped. She placed the glass back in the sink and braced herself on the edge of the counter. Before she could try and stop them, uncontrollable sobs came tumbling out of her. She slid back down the cabinets to a seated position as Brittany came running into the kitchen from the living room.

"Santana? Santana are you ok?" Brittany practically flew over to where Santana was sitting on the floor crying into a dishtowel. "Santana, what's wrong baby?" Brittany asked, throwing her whole body on top of Santana's.

After a few minutes, Santana was able to regulate her breathing and calm down a little bit. She leaned as far into Brittany as she could, burying her face under Brittany's chin. "Max and I just had a conversation, he asked," Santana paused, she knew Brittany wouldn't be upset about this, in fact she knew Brittany would be so happy about it, but she still felt a little twinge of guilt, like she was taking the word "mommy" away from Brittany. "Max asked if he could call me mommy or mom," Santana didn't dare a glace up at Brittany afraid of the look that might be on her face.

"Oh my gosh, San! That's amazing!" Brittany said, starting to cry. She embraced Santana even harder. "I can't believe he was the one who brought it up. He loves you so much baby, he knows you are his mother, he's always known." Brittany pulled Santana up, wiping away some of the tears on her cheeks. "You are Max's mom. You never forget that, ok?" Brittany said through tears holding Santana's face up to hers. "We are Max's mothers. He is our son. No matter what anyone says." Brittany leaned in, Santana following. They sat there, like that, on the kitchen floor kissing for a few minutes. Brittany leaned back, Santana wasn't sure she had ever seen Brittany with a bigger smile on her face. "It's so funny, with the Marriage Equality bill passing and all the talk about it, I was going to ask you if we should approach Max about calling you mom, but he's a smart little guy. He takes after his mom," Brittany smiled pointing at Santana, who had stopped crying long enough to blush at Brittany's comment.

"Yeah, he does." Santana said with a smile, getting up and reaching out her hand to help Brittany up as well. "Come on baby, let's go tuck our son in to bed." Santana threw the dishtowel on the counter, taking Brittany by the hand and leading her out of the kitchen.


End file.
